Mark Souder: “First, as a small businessman, Mr. Speaker, I would like to compliment the chairman of the committee, the gentleman from…”

“First, as a small businessman, Mr. Speaker, I would like to compliment the chairman of the committee, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Goodling], and the subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Fawell], on the actual bill we are discussing here, the portal-to-portal bill. In my case, in the retail business, we had a number of employees, including our service manager and our warehouse manager, who had vehicles that they drove home. It worked well for them. It was something we could do as a joint employer-employee, and to have the Federal Government, through the courts, who often decide that they are the State and Federal legislators of this country and can make better decisions than Congress and State legislators can, to see that overturned is a tragedy for American workers and small business. I also want to say, Mr. Speaker, that I am sorry that I cannot vote for that bill, because I cannot support a bill that lays off American workers.”